April Fools' Day 2015 round-up

It's April 1, a day of jokes, lies and mischief most foul. Not on PC Gamer, though. We're staunch defenders of truth, tireless bastions of fact, and exhausted holders of the correct opinions about Dragon Age 2. As such, we'll round-up the internet's pranks on this single page, where you can browse them through a luxurious filter of knowing suspicion. No, dear reader, you shall not be the April's Fool. Not this year. Not again.

Google Maps

Google got the early drop on April Fools' Day by doing it on March 31, the cads. They added a button to Google Maps that transforms whatever streets you're viewing into a game of pill-popping classic Pac-Man. Naturally, it works best on the streets of grid-formed cities—and not the messy road-vomit favoured by most European cities.

SUPERQOT

Also released as a playable curio, there's SUPERQOT. It's takes SUPERHOT's central mechanic—time moves when you do—and recreates it in a shareware demo of the original Quake. If that wasn't enough, there's also a trailer featuring '90s versions of Carmack and Romero. That, my friends, is how you April Fools.

Minecraft

A new Minecraft snapshot does away with the violence, in favour of Love and Hugs. Selected patch notes include:

We have removed the ability to directly harm other creatures. You should be rewarded for helping, not hurting.

Bats are now 20% cuter. Squeek.

Squid changed, but we’re still trying to figure out how or why.

Creepers no longer explode. They have gotten over their nervous disposition and are much more friendly once you get to know them.

Removed rain as it upset a lot of players.

Added rain back as it soothed a lot of players.

And so on...

League of Legends

Last year's April Fools' joke, URF, proved pretty popular with the community. The mode took League's regular game, and smashed it up against the wall of increased speed, low cooldowns and zero mana or energy costs. This year, Riot teased something different: NURF.

New Ultra Rapid Fire mode promised the following changes:

+100% mana and energy cost on all abilities

+200% cooldown inflation on abilities, items and summoner spells

+225 movement speed reduction

+200% delay between basic attacks

Critical strikes deal 50% of base AD

Units critically strike on 150% of attacks

Of course, when April 1 finally ticked over...

URF is back!

Zombie Army THRILLogy

From the makers of Zombie Army Trilogy, it's the most rotted dancing Hitler you will see all day.

Blizzard

As always, Blizzard is the master of self-deprecation—subtly poking fun at themselves while simultaneously deploying some genuinely great community-focused jokes. This year, we have...

No, your character can't fly. They can, however, stretch out their arms and make plane noises while under a sepia filter. It's almost as good.

Path of Exile

"Path of Exile service was disrupted today by a severe bug introduced in a patch this morning. We would like to sincerely apologise for this incident and assure you that we will be taking steps to prevent similar problems occurring in the future," explains GGG.

A misspelling of "cast" has resulted in an outbreak of "cats". What are the odds?

Bioware

A new announcement! Nug Elope, a "bold new adventure in never-before-seen parts of Thedas."

"A new town means new opportunities for a nug looking to make their mark. Forge alliances, build a burrow, and nug the nug out. Go from a nobody nug to the big nug on the block. Danger is everywhere, but so is fun.

"Meet more than 472 unique nugs, each with their own style and personality."

Would play.

Meanwhile, over at Star Wars: The Old Republic, they've announced three exciting new kinds of mounts: Mega, Micro, and Stationary. "Have you ever looked around your luxurious Nar Shaddaa stronghold and spotted your favorite chair, or perhaps seen a beautiful tree on Belsavis, and said to yourself, 'If only this was a vehicle.' Well now it is!

Corsair

Do you remember balls? I remember balls.

Paradox

If there's one thing we've learned from Cities: Skylines, it's that everybody loves Chirpy. Good job the constant tweeter is coming to Paradox's other games.

Wargaming.net has taken things a step further with an April Fool that's actually playable. World of Tanks: Operation Undead is a Flash-based tower defense game in which you must prevent the legions of undead from overrunning your base. There are multiple types of enemies, units are upgradable, and there's a leaderboard, too. (I'm not on it.)

Bethesda

Bethesda has announced that the next Evil Within DLC will be Into the Light, an animated feature examining the deep bond between Juli Kidman and the Black Cat that debuted in The Assignment. Kidman and Cat will travel to exciting new locales in the , including a jungle, a desert, and even under the sea.

"So much was the outpouring of love that we took the only logical step forward from the world of Survival Horror: creating a whimsical animated feature around these two characters in The Evil Within: Into the Lightl!" Lead Concept Artist Ikumi Nakamura explained.

Mechwarrior Online

The Urbanmech is essentially a big can with legs—a can of whoopass, that is, and it's been opened.

Humble Indie Ballyhoo

The Humble Indie Ballyhoo is a pay-what-you-want collection of "absolutely priceless" classics, including Stickball, Stickball Premium, Hoop Trundling, Ball-and-Cup, and, for those who beat the average purchase price, Pie Pan Throwing Disc, Horseshoes, and Spinning Top. All funds raised go to charity, and while it is clearly an April Fool, it has so far raised nearly $7200 for the EFF, the American Red Cross, Child's Play, and GamesAid. No foolin'.

Microsoft

With the mobile market dominated by iOS and Android-based devices, Microsoft has decided to launch a new line on phones running the "most beautifully simple" operating system it has ever developed: MS-DOS. Available now in a preview version on select Lumia mobiles, this really is all the productivity you've come to expect from Microsoft.

ThinkGeek

Want a Steam Machine, but don't feel like waiting until November? ThinkGeek can give you a jump on the crowd with a PC that is actually, literally, powered by steam. The system features an Intel Core 4440 CPU, a GeForce GTX960 OC GPU, 400 bits of hard-wired ferrite core memory, spinning magnetized disc-based RAM storage, a genuine Marconi binary signal sender and receiver, and a 1000 BTU coal-fired burner and 200 PSI-rated steam vessel. Built from mahogany, brass, and only the finest phenolic plastics, this beauty comes with SteamOS preinstalled—just add some anthracite coal and you're ready to play! (Anthracite coal note included.)

We'll update this post as the day goes on. Point us to your favourite japes in the comments.

Phil leads PC Gamer's UK team. He was previously the editor of the magazine, and thinks you should definitely subscribe to it. He enjoys RPGs and immersive sims, and can often be found reviewing Hitman games. He's largely responsible for the Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.